3 Pillars to Build a Healthy Church

In growing a church, what are some fundamental pillars we must factor in to make sure that the church is healthy? Rev John Lim draws from his missionary experience and share his thoughts. 

As I begin, I am reminded of the declaration that “the local church as God designed it, is the hope of the world”. In God’s design, her role is to carry out what she is designed by God to do, “to bring people from spiritual death into spiritual life, setting them on a lifelong journey of deepening in Christlike character” [1].  In His church, God will have His way, to guide her to share in the life of Christ, to love God the Father, so that the Holy [Spirit] will arise in us (the church) to produce “little Christs”[2].  This goes to show how critical it is that for the church of God to be built on ‘foundational pillars’ to build towards a good health, allowing her to fulfill her role in Christ.

The Pillar of Love

Loving God is both demonstrative and transformational! 

The church needs to focus on loving God, spending time with Him and to love His words. Only as she is founded on this love relationship can she then extend this very “agape” love from God to one another within the church, coming together to pray, care, help, support and counsel the brothers and sisters in Christ who are part of this family that belongs to the Father. Only when we are founded on His love, in His word and in His presence can we then love in the manner of 1 John 3:18, “My children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth’.  Loving God includes loving Christ the word[3], loving God’s word[4], as well as loving to feed on His word[5]. Loving God is both demonstrative and transformational! 

The Pillar of Purpose

The apostle Peter presents to us the purpose of the church, to be “a royal priesthood, a holy nation …so that you might speak of the praises of Him”[6]. This reiterates the ‘priesthood of all believers’, that all His children are His worshipers, priests and disciples. One theological ‘bias’ I have seen in my 18 years of missions in France is the distinct separation between the spiritual (clergy) and the secular (laymen), where the entire responsibility of service, liturgy and functioning of the church has been the responsibility of the priest and nuns since medieval times, while the non-clerical is reduced to being simply spectators in the house of God!

For members, knowing that all have been ‘purposed’ to become ‘disciples’ and ‘priests’ in the God’s Kingdom will liberate all to “form, develop and fulfill God’s purpose” in their lives.

Purpose precedes structure and governance”, so every church needs to purposefully ‘establish a clearly defined vision for herself as well as enable her members to establish vision in their own lives”[7]. For members, knowing that all have been ‘purposed’ to become ‘disciples’ and ‘priests’ in the God’s Kingdom will liberate all to “form, develop and fulfill God’s purpose” in their lives. This allows the church to be “a place for service, training ministry and connection”, independent of status and background, where independent bricks come together according to His purpose to form His house. As disciples, we are ‘purposed’ to serve a role in the church, as “living stones” connected to “The living Stone” (Christ) to build up “a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ”[8]. 

The Pillar of Witness  

Jesus shows the importance of witness in the healthy church, stating “You are the salt of the earth…light of the world … Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.”[9] The church coming together will have an impact given by the Spirit of God, as Pentecostal churches as “the Spirit is to be encountered and experienced. Fee (Dr Gordon Fee) underscores the fact that the Spirit is more than a creedal belief and is better recognized as ‘God’s empowering presence’[10].

In today’s world which is facing extreme challenges in the realm of mental health, sicknesses and political tensions, it allows us to see how necessary the ‘missional call’ is (be it local or overseas) of God for believers to go beyond the walls of the church, becoming authentic witness to those yet to be touched by the love of God. It is amazing to see the ‘sociological importance’ of the day of Pentecost in providing “the basis for a nationally undivided community, demonstrated by the expansion of the Christian community to include Samaritans and even Gentiles; those outside have now been included” [11].

It will be amazing to see how God’s church built on these fundamental pillars based on God’s word can allow churches to grow strong in God’s love, focused on God’s purposes, in order to touch those yet to embrace the Gospel message of salvation in an authentic way.

[1] Bill Gorman, “The Local Church Is the Hope of the World – Christ Community Church – KC,” March 7, 2018, https://cckc.church/the-hope-of-the-world/, https://cckc.church/the-hope-of-the-world/. <Accessed 17 July 2023>

[2] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, revised and expanded edition, with new introduction of the three books “Broadcast Talks,” “Christian Behavior,” and “Beyond Personality,” C. S. Lewis Signature Classics Edition (London: HarperCollins, 2016), p. 200.

[3] John 1:1

[4] Psalms 119: 11, 47

[5] Psalms 119: 14-15, Hebrews 5: 11-14

[6] 1 Peter 2:9

[7] Tom Lane, Foundations of Healthy Church Government: With Study Guide (Southlake, Texas: Gateway Press, 2017), p 4.

[8] 1 Peter 2: 4-5

[9] Matthew 5: 13-16.

[10] Keith Warrington, Pentecostal Theology: A Theology of Encounter (London: New York: T & T Clark, 2008), p 95.

[11] Ibid, p 60.